Homecoming
by LivingInMyDreams
Summary: Presenting the next JL love story. Yes, fluff. Yes, drama. Post-Hogwarts, with flashbacks to how the two got together in the first place. *James is gone, Lily is depressed, how will they find their way back together? Please R&R. Discontinued, sorry.
1. In the rain

More about this story: It's a post Hogwarts fic, about James/Lily & the Marauders during the first Order of The Phoenix era. Frequent flashbacks to the beginnings of Lily and James, including !fluff! Will later on include the wedding, my favorite part, hurrah!

Please read and review, not only does it make me update faster, but your comments help me improve. And I know that you like getting reviews when you spend a lot of your time writing something, so please, do me that same favor.

Also, I'm only saying this once, so listen clearly. I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the original plot lines and characters, I do not make any profit of this story, and I am definitely not JKR, because if I was, Tonks & Remus never would have died and I would have given why more info on Lily and James' love story, duh.

_Homecoming_

Never had London seen a rain such as this. She was convinced that it was earth's natural way of showing her, and everyone who had lost someone during this war, that they were not alone. A way of saying that if they were to greave, the clouds who greave by their side.

So much had changed in so little time. Despite the fact that she had only left Hogwarts a month ago, those careless beautiful days she had spent with James by the lake, seamed, light years away…

_She tiredly made her way to the portrait hole and grumpily muttered the password ready to sink into her bed fully clothed after such a long day._

_She was about to round the corner that would reveal her common room when she heard the soft strumming of a guitar, accompanied by a voice – his voice. It seamed to seep into her and heal all her wounds. _

_She sank to the floor, back to the wall that separated her from him and listened to his words silently._

"_And what was I supposed to do, I was stuck in between you and a hard place, we won't talk about that hard place…"_

_He continued to sing; oblivious to her presence and to the small tears accumulating in her stunning emerald eyes. It seemed as if all her problems and worries could be washed away with his words, no matter the sadness of them. _

"_And I don't blame you anymore that's too much pain to store, it left me half dead, inside my head, oh, and lookin' back I see I'm not the guy I used to be, when I lost my mind, it saved my life…"_

_Slowly, all the emotions that she had fought so hard to keep down started to come back up. She was head over heals in love with James Potter and their was absolutely nothing she could do about it but cry. _

_She cried about the hilarious irony of the situation and about the fact they could never be together, no matter how badly they wanted to be. She cried about all the people that had died and would still die during this stupid war, all the sacrifices being made, by everyone, by her. She cried for the simple sake of crying, to pour out the bad that had accumulated inside her. She had no idea how long she had been sitting their, but at some point she became aware of the silence in the room, the absence of the music that made her feel even more empty inside. _

_James was standing over her, concern etched into every feature of his extremely handsome face. His glasses were reflecting the chandelier light, so she could not see his honest hazel eyes. Almost everything that was James Potter was there, his signature untamable hair, his Quidditch-toned body, yet she knew there was something missing. His innocence, the light in his soul, his lopsided grin and immaturity, all the things she loved best, ruined, smashed by this interminable war. _

"_Lily?"_

_She stood abruptly, swaying slightly on her spot, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, just ignore me, I'm not here."_

_She headed towards the staircase, but her knees proved too week to hold her and she prepared to feel the cold hardness of the floor, but instead she felt two strong warm arms surround her, and she found herself crying into James' shoulder on the couch in front of the fire. _

_At some point she had fallen asleep, but James never did, he held on to her all night, chin protectively rested on her head whispering comforting words into her hair. He knew Lily loved him, he wasn't that dense, but he didn't understand why she kept away, to him she was everything, and it physically hurt him to be away from her. He would never push her to confine in him, but he wished she would just tell him what was wrong and why she was so adamant on playing with fate. _

She was tall and lean, but not to a point where she looked sick. Her skin had a creamy pale complexion that contrasted with her auburn locks that normally hung loosely on her back, curling into large perfect ringlets. Now, as she was wet, her hair frizzed and stuck to her face in places. She wasn't just wet; she was soaked to the bone, shivering, and her emerald green dress was completely ruined as it clung to her skin. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, her head resting on them, seeking warmth as she rocked back and forth on the grey park bench.

She did not know if the wetness on her face was composed of tears or rain, but she didn't care. As far as she was concerned the clouds were crying for her.

She did not notice a tall handsome man appear by her side, and for some reason inexplicable by science, the rain stopped inches before hitting him, leaving his dark hair to fall in his eyes completely dry. He had startling grey eyes, hard to put into words, unfathomable, and mysterious. You could easily tell he was a closed soul, his business was his own, and the things he had seen and done, would tear his insides apart, but he would never let them out. He just gave off the impression that he had experienced too much, seen too much, for anyone with normal capacities.

He sat down next to the girl, who eyes unlike his, betrayed every single emotion she was feeling. The pain and sorrow so evident, even if a child could tell she was on the edge. She had the same look though; she had also experience too much.

After a few minutes, he stood again, and pried the girl's arms off her legs; he placed one arm under her knees and one under her back, and lifted her of the bench, pushing her head into his chest. She didn't even acknowledge his presence. She continued her comatose state, the tears more visible now that she was in the rain protector's bubble.

He began to whisper things to her, softly, soothingly, " He's going to be okay Lils, I promise. He's going to come home. He's absolutely fine. Don't you worry about it."

He made so many promises he lost track, promises he wasn't sure he could keep. He wasn't even sure if he was saying them to reassure her or himself.


	2. Remembering the first date

A.n.: Here it is. **Please review**. Also, Lily's dress - Search Google Images for Keira Knightley's green dress in Atonement. God I want that dress.

Homecoming, Second Chapter

With a mutter of a spell the front door flew open and he slowly maneuvered himself and the girl he was holding trough the door.

The lights turned themselves on and revealed a comfortable looking room, with a fire roaring at the back. Surrounding the fire were three, red and gold striped couches, two of them occupied by sleeping forms.

He set her down on the couch, pulled out on an odd looking stick and waved it over her, her soaking wet dress vanished and was replaced with an oversized plaid t-shirt with matching pajama pants. Her hair dried and was pulled up into a bun, and the dirt that covered her face vanished to reveal beautiful pale creamy skin. A white fluffy blanket appeared out of nowhere and tucked itself around her sleeping form as she snuggled into the cushions.

The tall man with sleek black hair sighed, and turned to go get himself cleaned up when one of the other occupants in the room began to stir.

The man looked no older than eighteen, yet his face bore scars, wrinkles and wisdom beyond his years. He had warm brown eyes filled with concern, and certain tiredness, his honey colored hair messy atop his head.

"Usual spot?" He muttered.

The black hair man nodded, "Yeah, Park Bench."

He sat down next to his friend, putting his head in his hands.

"We have to do something Remus, it's been two months, I can't just sit here and watch this any more. It's like everyday, a little more sparkle, a little more life just disappears from her eyes." His tone was angry, frustrated, he gained momentum as he talked.

"I know Sirius! You don't think I know? But Dumbledore told us to stay put, and we have absolutely no idea where he is, for all we know, he could be, he could be-"

"Don't even say it, Remus, he's not. He is not dead. He can't be." His voice shook, struggling to sound strong and sure of itself.

The one named Sirius got up; his head hanging with his eyes brimmed with tears.

"I'm going to go clean of the dress."

The one named Remus nodded, and laid back down on the couch, frowning, contemplating the past.

"_What are you so stressed out about?"_

_James stood in front of a full-length mirror back at Hogwarts. He was wearing a muggle suit, it was crisp and black, showing off all the right muscles, he had a tie hanging around his neck waiting to be tied, and was fumbling with his hair, desperately trying to flatten it out._

"_Oh, I don't know, maybe it's the fact that I am actually going out on a date with __**Lily Evans**__ and my entire life is on the hanging and I can't even get my hair to sit straight!" He retorted frustrated, he let his hands fall to his side, his expression defeated. _

_He turned to face Remus sighing._

"_Help me. God help me."_

_Remus let out a hearty laugh, and motioned for James to turn around. He conjured a brush out of thin air, and desperately attempted to pass it trough the dark locks. _

"_Don't worry about it, just be yourself. She loves you, remember, and no matter that it took her so long to get her to admit it, it means it's all the more powerful now."_

"_Yeah but it took her so long because I was an arrogant prat, so if I be myself she's just going to walk off again!" He protested with his voice clearly filled with true worry. _

_Remus sighed again, "James, you know as well as I do that the real you is not an arrogant prat. Just be your actual self, show her the side of you that she fell in love with, that she couldn't resist. Because if she didn't love you so much, she would have been able to stay away, but she said herself that she couldn't."_

_James let out a crooked grin, showing that he was reassured, "Thanks-"_

_A tall handsome man entered the room loudly, carrying a stack of books and cut him off, "I am a genius, absolute genius. You will love me forever, and ever, for I have found the ultimate hair solution for you. It took me years of searching but I will finally be able to tame your hair, come, come, my apprentice, for I am going to teach you the way of the wand!" _

_Peter scurried in behind him carrying even more books. They blocked his eyes, and not seeing anything he tripped and sent them to the ground. He hastily got to his feat, trying to blow of how nerdy his trip was._

"_Wormtail! Careful with those!" Sirius barked out._

"_Sorry," Peter muttered._

"_Anyhow," Sirius turned back to his best friend, "As I was saying before Peter sent my research to the floor, I just found the perfect potion." _

_He grinned widely at James and dropped all his books on his bed except for one. James came to his side and together they started muttering and pouring over the book._

_They didn't notice Remus slip out of the room._

_--_

_He knocked on the door lightly and a short round-faced woman answered._

"_Oh, Remus, hey, is it time already?"_

"_Nah, I'm just coming to check up on Lily, she okay?"_

_Just then a loud screech echoed out from the bathroom and the girl opened the door for Remus to come in, he shut it behind him and when he looked up he was greeted with the shock of his life._

_He had never seen such a messy dormitory, ever, cloths were strew every where, bottles, and lipstick tubes cluttered the floor, the door to the bathroom was wide open and Remus could see Lily fussing over her hair, with Alice trying to calm her down._

_He slowly entered the bathroom and Lily turned to him tear eyed._

"_I'm almost ready Remus, just give me 5 minutes please. Oi, I can't believe I'm late. This is a nightmare."_

"_Your not late Lily, you still have an hour. I was just coming to see how you were doing, obviously not so good though…"_

_Lily sank to the floor, letting out a breath._

"_Oh, thank Merlin, I'm not even close to ready, I look like complete crap and my hair is a mess and I have no idea what to wear. I didn't know when I was packing this year that I would have to bring something fancy, all I brought is one dress for graduation…"_

_Remus smiled, "I'm sure you'll look fine Lily, whatever you wear. In fact, I think James would think you'd look gorgeous in a card board box."_

"_He wants me to wear a card board box!?" She screeched and leapt to her feat, the clip in her hair falling off._

_Alice put her hands of her shoulders to keep her down, "You should go Remus, your not making things any easier." _

_She pushed Lily back towards the chair she had placed in the bathroom and set to work on her hair._

_--_

_James was fumbling with his tie in order to stop himself from touching his hair. It was so filled with potion, it felt heavy on his hair, yet it was combed perfectly flat, to the side, looking the most presentable that it ever had. _

_He was standing in front of the girl's staircase; Sirius, Remus and Peter were playing exploding snap behind him, while waiting for Lily to come down. He had a single calla lily in his hand. He didn't know what Lily's favorite flowers were; he hoped she would like it. _

_He spotted her at the top of the staircase and what he saw took his breath away. She was wearing a gorgeous silk emerald colored dress, which matched the exact color of her eyes, it was v-necked and loose around her torso but pulled tight around her stomach and waist where the fabric crumpled together. It tied in a makeshift belt in the front around her lower waist, and the fabric fell from the knot into the billowing skirt. It left her shoulders free to the air, as well as her entire back, because the fabric stopped right at the arch in the small of her back and fell into a sort of train (think Keira Knightley's dress in Atonement). _

_Her auburn hair was pinned into a loose bun, but strands fell out and curled onto her pale creamy shoulders. Her eyes were accentuated with black eyeliner and mascara, and her lips were pink and shiny with clear lip-gloss. He swore that she was an angel, and he has just died. _

_Remus, Sirius and Peter seamed to have notice her too, for they were wolf-whistling from the couch and shouting out comments like 'better watch your back James, I might just forget the fact that you've had dibs since first year'._

_He didn't seem to notice, because he was transfixed on Lily, not being able to say anything until she stopped in front of him, slightly red in the cheeks._

"_You look…"_

_She suddenly shrieked quite loudly causing him to fall a little out of his reverie. He stumbled wondering what he had done now. Her face was a bit shocked, yet angry._

"_What have you done to your hair!?"_

_He grinned, happy she noticed, it had took him over an hour to make the potion and actually apply it, luckily, she was even later than he was, "I fixed it for you, I know how you didn't like it always messy…"_

"_Well I hate it now," she said pouting, why the hell would he have ever thought she would wanted him to make his hair look like that, "put it back."_

_He raised an eyebrow, he didn't understand, she hated his hair, why on earth would she want him to put it back to how it was before? She fumbled with her dress to somehow pull her wand out of the folds of it and ordered him to turn around. He did, and he heard her mutter a few words, and felt a weight lifting from his head. He lifted his fingers and ran them trough his once again clean, and messy hair. Lily was in front of him again and she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he allowed his to rest on her sides, she ran her fingers trough his hair smiling, now it was all-soft and touchable again, just how she like it, "That's much better," she whispered, locking eyes with his._

_He grinned and leaned down to kiss her, and as he slowly moved his lips against hers, sweetly, not demanding, just like she liked it, he was absolutely certain he had died and gone to heaven. _

"_You look gorgeous," he whispered into her neck, as he smelled her perfect scent, she always smelled so fantastic. He was still shocked that of all people, Lily Evans had chosen him. _

_She giggled as he made his way back up her neck, placing light kisses across her jawline, "Now what did you do with that flower? I love Calla Lily's, how ironic…"_


	3. Not remebering anything

A.N.: I had some extra time so I decided to update, even though it's only been like two days, not even. **Please review!!** I get so many hits, and subscriptions, yet you can't even take the time to write two words of encouragement. Please. Please. Even if it's something you don't like, I can't improve, or write better, or get rid of those maybe little things that bug you if you don't tell me. Please!

Homecoming, third chapter

Clear white light streamed trough the window into the plain white room, and fell onto a single bed occupied by a handsome young man. His black hair was partly covered by a white bandage that wrapped around his head several times and his gentle face wore a confused expression as he twirled a long brown stick trough around his fingers. He had warm hazel eyes, and cheeks that were just right for his face, though his left one had a deep gash from his left ear down to his chin that was in the process of healing. He was sitting up in his bed, back against the headboard, mesmerized by the wooden stick.

The room was extremely boring, perfectly rectangular, with four whitewashed walls. Two of them held doors, one had a window, and one was completely plain but for the headboard leaning against it. There was a white bedside table on each side of the bed; one held a lamp, and one a newspaper, and a small, tiny, velvet black box. There were two chairs unoccupied on the left side of the bed. The room also contained several oddly shaped machines, but all of them seemed to be turned off, apparently the man in the bed didn't need them.

One of the doors was open, and once in a while a person would pass by. Much of the morning passed by without an incident, the man continued obsessing over his stick, twirling, and swishing it, trying to discover more about it.

Around noon, a tall woman in a lab coat with long auburn hair to the shoulders passed by the room. He only just raised his eyes from the stick when he saw her, and a look of recognition crossed his features as he leapt out of bed, wooden something falling to the floor as he dashed out the door after her, "Hey, wait!"

By the time he got out the door, she was half way down the hallway, but he chased after her, "Wait! Hey! Wait!" Apparently he had good reflexes because he dodged a nurse who was pushing a trolley before finally catching up to the woman, he placed his hand on her shoulder panting, "Hey". The woman finally turned around, her blue eyes questioning who was getting in her way, she seemed impatient, and he features read '_what now_'.

"Do I kno-", his words seen to catch in his mouth as he looked the women's features over, inspecting her cold blue eyes, confusion replacing his panting, from being out of breath.

The women stood their, hands on her hips, annoyance written all over her, "Can I help you?"

He muttered something under his breath before shaking his head with a look that neared desperation, "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone I knew, but…"

He turned around sad and made his way back to his room, muttering words like _'thought you were someone else_' and '_could have sworn'_.

When he got back to his room, he accidentally bumped in to a short blonde in a nurse's uniform, she was carrying a metal clipboard and was evidently attempting to get into his room as well.

"Oh sorry Amanda, I didn't mean to bump into you."

She smiled brightly, as they both entered the room. He picked up the wooden stick and put it on the bedside table, before getting back into bed. The woman sat down in one of the chairs next to it.

"No problem, where have you been?"

He scrunched his features in concentration," This doctor passed by my room, and I could have sworn I knew her, but then when I actually saw her face, nothing."

She frowned, "Well she might not be someone you know, but it's very possible she had features that were similar to someone from your past. It could be anything, even her posture. Think about it some more, any other progress?"

"No, I just can't seem shake that feeling that it's something important that I shouldn't throw out," he said, motioning to the stick on the bedside table.

"I'm sure you'll get it soon James."

He frowned when she spoke his name, and she quirked her eyebrow at him in response.

A little sparkle returned to his eye, as if this was a daily routine, "You don't know my name is James."

The nurse began scribbling on her chart, writing random notes. Playing with her pencil, doodling, just to try to keep down her smile as she spoke, "So your names Lily than?"

He however was able to keep a straight face, as if he had more practice at holding down laughter, "No. Well, at least I don't think so."

He continued, serious now, as if this part was new, and he hadn't confessed this part of his feelings to the nurse yet, "Well, it's just, maybe James is just a friend of mine, and he asked me to keep it for safe keeping. Maybe I stole it, and I got hurt while I was on the run, or maybe I found it on the street. How do you actually know it's mine? Theirs a huge possibility that theirs no one that loves me looking for me right now, how else would I have been here for 2 whole months?"

"Maybe. But I doubt it; theirs bound to be someone in love with a handsome guy like you. Anyway, I'm still calling you James, I think it suits you."

The man sighed, and stretched out his arm to pick up the velvet box on the table, and played with it for a few minutes in silence while the nurse eyed him, until he finally cracked it open. He pulled out a two thin bands from the box that were intertwined. One was very simple, gold, and bearing an engraving of a calla lily on it. The second, silver, bore five diamonds, the center diamond was cushion cut, not too big, but not too small either, and the two diamonds on either side were square, the ones on the exterior being slightly smaller than the ones directly next the center diamond. Small circle emeralds were indented like an eternity band along the rest of the ring, creating an overall stunning effect.

The man lifted the bands closer to his eyes to inspect the inner engravings. The gold one bore the name _James_ in loopy cursive writing, where as the silver one bore _Lily_ in the same font.

The man sighed again, and finally replaced the bands in their box, and once again looked at the nurse for attention.

She smiled, and rose to her feet, tucking her clipboard under her arm.

"If your up to it, I wanted to take you someplace special tonight, the doctor's gave me permission to take you for a walk."

He ran his fingers trough his hair, a slightly broken, and sad look crossed his face. "Sure, not like I have anything better to do, or anywhere else to go."

The nurses eyes twinkled a little before she left, "Don't worry James, you'll find out where you came from, guys like you don't go missing for long. Like I said, theirs bound to be someone looking for you, missing you like crazy at home. It's just I've seen lost of people pass trough here, and the good ones don't stay long, not when they have Lily's to take care of them."

He frowned, nose scrunching in concentration, "Lily…" The letters slipped off his tongue so easily, as if he had used that name thousands of times before, as if his lips were meant to move to those sounds, as if they were made specifically to form that name.

No matter the strong instinct he had that this Lily was someone really important that he shouldn't be forgetting, he just couldn't seem to grasp who she was.


	4. Wish me luck

A.n.: Oh, you guys are lucky, I'm just in the mood these days for writing. PLEASE REVIEW, if you don't like, let me know why! If you like it, give me some encouragement! Please! I would do the same for you! How is it that I get 500 hits, but 7 comments? This time, I'm not updating until I hit 15 reviews.

Homecoming, Chapter 4

She was curled into the fetus position, seeking warmth until she suddenly sprang to life. She let a string of curse words fall from her mouth and ran out of the comfortable living room seeking the bathroom.

She immediately tore of her clothes, and ducked under the scorching water of the shower, quickly going through her showering routine. She was going to be late, he was waiting for her, and she had slept in. She let out a groan and she tried to speed up the process of hair washing.

In the other room, obviously a kitchen, three men were sitting around a circular wooden table. Two other place settings were set, but the plates, and the comfortable looking chairs were empty. All three men that were present had a solemn look on their face. You will recognize them to be previously mentioned, Remus, Sirius and Peter.

Sirius stuffed his toast into his mouth angrily while quirking his ears to hear the sounds of the shower, he got up abruptly plate in hand, accidentally knocking over the water pitcher to the floor. It broke into pieces and was accompanied by muttered curses.

"Fuck!" He screamed, as he sent his plate crashing into the wall across the room.

Peter flinched, but Remus' face stayed cold. Neither man moved while Sirius just stood their frustrated, anger boiling in his veins.

His voice was low, yet so filled with rage, he might as well have been screaming, "How can you just sit there eating your fucking toast? How can you be so calm about this, Remus? How!?"

Remus still stayed still, his expression not betraying anything he felt inside. Peter looked as if he was going to wet his pants.

As suddenly as he had gotten up, Sirius pulled back Remus' chair, sending him crashing to the floor.

"Answer me Remus! Why aren't we doing anything about this?! Why the fuck are we sitting around here, in his house, while he could be god knows where!?"

Remus slowly got to his feet, tears filling his eyes. He still did not scream, but the sadness managed to make its way trough is fierce mask, his voice cracking as he whispered painfully, "What would you suggest we do Sirius? Where do you suggest we look that we haven't already looked? How many more muggle and wizard records can we search? You are very well aware that we can't just infiltrate ministry records without them noticing, the ministry _has _fallen a long time ago. Dumbledore is right. If he's still out their, he'll find his way home. You have to trust him, he's powerful, and strong, and you and I both know that he could easily take down any Death Eater, the only person who could have gotten to him being…"

Sirius' eyes had also filled with tears, his knees gave out, and he fell to the floor, Remus came to sit next to him, and together they shared their grief. In fact, they were so grief stricken that they didn't notice Peter sneak out of the room.

A time later, Lily pocked her head trough the doorway smiling, clad in only a towel, holding a old looking note in her hand, and a bouquet of flowers that obviously had an everlasting charm on them.

"Hey guys, have you seen my green dress, the one from Hogwarts?"

Sirius quickly wiped his tears away and spread a fake grin onto his face; Lily didn't seem to notice, as she returned the smile as if all was completely normal.

"It's hanging in the laundry room where you left it Lils."

"Thanks," she smiled and turned to skip away in the opposite direction.

Sirius sighed as he lifted himself to his feet and stuck out his hand to Remus, who took it and used it as support to get to his feet, and together they went into the living room to read over the morning's daily prophet.

Only about half an hour later, when it was probably around four in the afternoon, Lily came running out of her bedroom, clad in her silk green dress, red hair pinned to perfection. She stopped in the front hallway in front of the mirror and smiled at herself, producing her wand out of thin air, and placing last minute touches on her hair and makeup.

The wand disappeared, and she turned on the spot to grin at Sirius and Remus on her way out the door.

"Wish me luck!" She called. Slamming the door behind her.

Sirius lifted his eyes to Remus, and they both understood what the other was thinking about. It was easy; it had been the same for over two months.

_James was pacing back and forth in the room, hands clammy, and hair as messy as ever, but dressed spiffy in a black tux. _

"_She'll say yes, she'll say yes, she'll say yes…" He repeated to himself over and over again. _

_Sirius and Remus were laughing from their spot on the golden red couch, teasing him nonstop._

"_Well, don't be so sure about it man."_

"_Oh, shut it Padfoot. She has to say yes."_

"_So you know what to do right? Just make sure she reads the note on the bed, it explains everything, ok?"_

"_We know James!" They chimed together._

_James ran his fingers trough his ebony colored hair, his face clearly the most nervous it had ever been. _

"_I guess I should get going then, so she doesn't see me like this…"_

_Sirius and Remus jumped from their place on the couch both saying in a singsong voice, "Yes, yes, time to go!" _

_They pushed James towards the door, laughing all along the way, the sparkle in their mischievous eyes never leaving. Sirius opened the large oak door and Remus pushed James onto the doorstep, before Sirius slammed the door not letting him come back in._

_Sirius rubbed his hands together proudly and they both resumed their previous positions on the couch. _

_A loud crack sounded in the room an hour later, and an old man with a silver beard appeared out of thin air._

"_Dumbledore!" Sirius cried._

"_What brings you around our sorry neck of the woods?"_

_The old man smiled pleasantly, "I'm looking for James if that's not a problem."_

_Remus chuckled, "I'm afraid it is a slight problem, James is, umm, otherwise occupied at the moment, waiting for a almost late Lily in the park."_

_Dumbledore raised an eyebrow in questioning._

"_He's going to pop the question! That is, if she ever shows up…"_

_Dumbledore smiled, the twinkle that had been lost during the war coming back for seconds, "About time! Ah, I believe Minerva owes me a few galleons!" He chuckled. " Oh, well, tell him I need to speak with him when he returns," his tone turning more serious._

_Sirius pretended to tip his none existent hat, "Sure thing Albus, as long as it's not for a mission!"_

_But the old man hadn't caught his last words, because he disappeared into thin air reappearing in a beautiful park, near a newly painted grey park bench._

_A while later, a flustered Lily apparated into the room. She was mumbling about stupid healers, darned muggles, and about being late. _

"_Hey Sirius, Remus, have you seen James? We were supposed to do something tonight…"_

_They ushered a surprised Lily into her room, handed her a bouquet of flowers, with a note on it. Her eyes scanned the note._

"_Merlin! That was an hour ago!" She screeched whilst pushing the boys out of her room, and running around trying to make herself look the best in a minimum amount of time._

_She emerged stunning, in green silk, hair pinned back, to run out the door, stopping at the mirror to change a few things with her wand, before calling over her shoulder on the way out, _

"_Wish me luck!"_


	5. Murray Hill

**SO sorry about the wait. But exams… don't even get me started. I'll try to post 2 or 3 chapters in the next week or so to make up for it. Please review.**

"Amanda… where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"Are we their yet?"

"No."

James was walking leisurely next to Amanda, who looked quite different without her nurse's uniform on. Her hair was loose and fell to her shoulders, stick straight, and she was wearing faded light blue jeans. He knew she was wearing a white tank top under her plain beige raincoat. What made her actually look so different was her make up; she was wearing all sorts of unidentifiable things, which pulled together to make her look quite attractive. James hadn't really noticed before.

Again, he started asking annoying questions in an annoying babyish voice. He was acting like an utter two year-old, and yet it made Amanda smile even more. She answered sternly as she turned a corner, onto a street that was lit up more than the last, "No, James we are not there yet."

She smiled inwardly when he did not protest to her calling him that. She loved the name James; it had a nice ring to it. James and Amanda. It sounded nice. She scolded herself for letting her thoughts stray, she told herself over and over again that it was a bad idea. She didn't even know this guy, he was in love with another woman and even if he wasn't, men like him didn't fall for girls like her. They fell for "Lily's", exuberant, gorgeous and spectacular girls. And to top it all off, he was her patient. But she couldn't stop it, in the past two months, she just couldn't help falling in love with Mr. John Doe. Everyday she dreaded the return of his "fiancée", who would come for sure, she knew it, men like him didn't get forgotten. Their was bound to be people looking for him, loved ones crying over his absence. Lily was probably broken to the bone, worrying about him. And when she finds him, he'll finally remember her and he'll leave, completely forgetting plain, simple, not unique at all Amanda.

She stopped walking, and James did too. He looked to her questioning, and she smiled, motioning behind him. He turned on the spot, and realized they were in a park; he hadn't even noticed when they first entered it. What he saw took his breath away, they were on top of a hill, covered in grass that continued down until a street, when the houses started again. From where he was, he could see a view of the entire city, lit up before his eyes, that was truly beautiful. Right in front of him was a grey park bench, he and Amanda went to sit down on it, and they started at the view for a few minutes in silence.

"The wonders of Montreal," she said. "I couldn't live anywhere else."

He smiled, and tried to push away the nagging feeling he had. He finally gave up after a couple minutes and admitted it to Amanda, "I don't think I'm from here."

"What?"

"I don't know, but the streets aren't familiar, people don't talk the same. Do you think maybe I was on vacation when I got hurt?"

He turned to face her, cross-legged on the bench.

"I don't know James, I guess it's possible. You'll figure it out, and until then you've got me."

He smiled faintly, he liked Amanda, but he wanted to find his home, his family, if he had any. He was smart enough to know she liked him, if only a little, and he ignored it whenever she made comments like that.

It had been two months, and yet he could barley piece anything together. All he knew for sure, was that Montreal was not his home, and that he was forgetting something, someone, really important. And… their was something about this park. And then, like a flash, one memory hit him out of the blue.

_A crack resonated and he jumped to his feet, nervous as hell. _

"_Hello?"_

_A tall old man appeared out of nowhere, his grey beard shiny in the moonlight. The man smiled at James, and at the picnic set up on the flat ground before the slope of the hill. The old man had to admit that James had good taste in choosing parks, this happened to be one of his favorite. It was called Murray Hill, in the heart of one of the nicest neighborhoods of Montreal. He wondered why James had apparated across an ocean when their were plenty of parks in London…_

"_Albus? Can I help you?"_

_Dumbledore smiled, "Just a quick word, and then you can get back to more important matters," he said, while winking at James._

"_Sure, what do you need Albus?"_

_The man was stern and solemn as he spoke, his rhythm steady and to the point. He stopped only to take a breath here and there, not allowing interruptions._

"_I have been notified that Voldemort has recently been attacking the community over in America. Well here, actually. The Ministry never really had much contact with the community in this neck of the woods, considering there are only about two hundred of them grouped together. They have their own sorts of a government in tact, and all their children are home schooled. Once they grow up, they either immigrate to Europe, or stay here, integrated into muggle society. But their population is growing, and I, as well as most of the Order agree that we should strengthen our links with them. _

_I would like to send you as a representative James, back here, in a few days. If it weren't important I wouldn't ask you, in light of the coming events, but I really do think you're the man for the job. I don't want to keep you much longer, but we'll be discussing it in the meeting tomorrow, I just wanted to inform you before hand."_

_The man was gone before James could object._

He snapped out of it, and mulled over the only memory he had of his life before the hospital in his thoughts. Amanda hadn't noticed his absence, she was to busy inhaling the view.

This confirmed a few nagging feeling he had had, that his name was James, and that he hadn't been home when he got hurt, his home was in Europe… He had been on some sort of business trip. But it also aroused so many questions… like that man, he had appeared out of nowhere, and he has talked about flying from Europe to America as if it took seconds…

What was he forgetting? Who was he forgetting? Because that nagging feeling that he was not remembering someone very important, someone he cared about dearly…


End file.
